The recent Quantum Gravity and Cosmology 2024 international conference was convened at ShanghaiTech University, co-hosted by ShanghaiTech, the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). Taking place at the School of Physical Science and Technology (SPST) of ShanghaiTech, this conference marked a significant milestone in high-energy theoretical physics research and highlighted the advancements of SPST’s newly established fundamental physics group.
Key organizers of the conference included Assistant Professor Alexey Koshelev from SPST, Professor Cai Yi-Fu from USTC, and Assistant Professor Zhou Xinan from the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences at UCAS. The event also received support from Associate Professor Anna Tokareva of the Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Studies and Dr. K. Sravan Kumar of the University of Portsmouth.
ShanghaiTech President Feng Donglai opened the conference with a welcoming speech. He praised the collaborative efforts of the three co-organizing institutions and emphasized ShanghaiTech’s rapid development, particularly highlighting the growth of the fundamental physics group in SPST. President Feng noted the conference’s role as a crucial academic platform, fostering cooperation and exchange among top-tier experts in quantum gravity and cosmology, thus promoting international collaboration and talent development.
President Feng Donglai
The five-day conference featured 43 invited speakers from around the world, presenting cutting-edge talks and reports on topics ranging from string theory and black holes to gravitational waves. Alongside plenary talks, a poster session offered PhD students and young researchers a platform to showcase their current work.
The conference attracted over 100 scholars and researchers from more than 20 prestigious institutions in theoretical physics. Participants came from institutions including University of Cambridge, EPFL, Fudan University, Imperial College London, IHEP and ITP in Beijing, LMU Munich, McGill University, NORDITA, SISSA, Steklov Mathematical Institute and Lebedev Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, and USTC. This gathering facilitated a vibrant exchange of insights and advances in the fields of quantum gravity and cosmology.